Why You Should All Read The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Share!

If you watched the MTV movie awards, you know that The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is being made into a movie. And the cast is awesome.Harry Potter star Emma Watson joins Ezra Miller (Patrick) and Logan Lerman (Charlie) as Sam, Charlie's best friend/first love and Partrick's step sister and number one confidante. The story is incredibly inspiring and heart-wrenching, allowing extroverts (like myself) to see into the inner workings of introverts like Charlie (the main character of the book) and understand more about what it really means to not let life pass you by. Sounds amazing, right?Well, like every movie, this one has it's problems, starting with the fact it's adapted from a book. And the number one rule of book to movie adaptions is simple: The book is always better. I first read The Perks of Being A Wallflower in my 9th grade year (the same year as Charlie in the book). I've always been that kid in the hallway with their nose in some 700 page novel, devouring every piece of literature I could find and amazingly not running into any less-than-bookworm-tolerant seniors looking for a "frosh" to shove around. But Perks was different.

I've never had a favorite book. I'm an avid Harry Potter and Percy Jackson fan. John Green and Jodi Picoult hold the keys to my angst-loving heart. But I've never had one book that made me feel like I could read it a billion times and never get tired.

Until The Perks of Being a Wallflower, that is.

There's something about the way it's phrased in journal style that makes you feel like you've snuck into Charlie's room and are getting a glimpse at his life that soon turns into nothing you've ever experienced before. With memorable quotes like "We accept the love we think we deserve" from a sage English teacher or "I swear in that moment, we were infinite" describing a beautiful moment shared among true friends, Perks makes you rethink every bad word you've heard about teenage literature. The Perks of Being A Wallflower isn't just beautifully written though. It explores many issues teens struggle with, like substance abuse, sex, sexual orientation, first love, and self-acceptance—not to mention trying to figure out just who that self is. Charlie isn't perfect—far from it. He has anxiety, he's bad at expressing his opinions, he never seems to be able to figure things out in time, and he's always incredibly hard on himself. But it's all those traits that making him the endearing and relatable character he is.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower changed my life. Whenever I feel the urge to self-harm or continue relationships with people who have negative effects on my life, I can't help but think of Perks. I've met many people who quote the book as their favorite, life-changing literary experience.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky deserves to be on your list.